The first motherboards
supporting USB 3.0 and 6Gbps SATA hit the market last month, but
there are many who don't want to upgrade just for those features.
ASUS is making a PCIe X4 adapter with two 6Gbps SATA ports and two
USB 3.0 ports for around $40.

Other manufacturers want to get into the mix. Vantec has announced
a PCIe adapter of its own, as well as an adapter for the ExpressCard
format used in most laptops. The company is known for its external
hard drive enclosures, and will be introducing 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch
enclosures supporting USB 3.0 as well. Expect to see these hit
stores in January.

Buffalo recently began shipping the DriveStation
HD-HXU3, sporting a USB 3.0 external hard drive. They have also
announced PCIe and ExpressCard adapters of their own.

Unfortunately,
there have been delays in Intel's
chipset roadmap,and there won't be any USB 3.0 chipsets from the
blue team until 2011. AMD is planning support for USB 3.0 and 6Gbps
SATA, but details have been light.

Ultimately, several
motherboard makers have decided to got ahead and put these features
on the motherboard themselves or provide adapter cards. In the
competitive enthusiast motherboard market, these features are
increasingly a must have, and will move to more mainstream boards
as economies of scale kick in and chip prices drop.

"We are going to continue to work with them to make sure they understand the reality of the Internet. A lot of these people don't have Ph.Ds, and they don't have a degree in computer science." -- RIM co-CEO Michael Lazaridis